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Fujifilm wants to dedicate this day to all radiologists and radiographers supporting patients during COVID-19.

On November 8, radiologists and healthcare professionals across the world celebrate the International Day of Radiology (IDoR 2020). Let’s celebrate together!

The International Day of Radiology (IDoR) is an annual event promoting the role of medical imaging in modern healthcare. It was introduced in 2012, as a common initiative of the European Society of Radiology (ESR), the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), and the American College of Radiology (ACR). 

IDoR was launched to develop greater awareness of radiology and the vital role radiologists play in patient care. Since 2012, every year the associations chose a theme for the day, in 2019 sports imaging has been chosen as the main theme of the day. This year International Day of Radiology will be dedicated to all imaging professionals and their indispensable role in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic making a vital contribution to the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients.

But let’s see why the associations chose November 8. 

That’s the day that Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered the existence of x-rays in 1895. 

Roentgen’s experiments at Würzburg focused on light phenomena and other emissions produced by discharging electrical current in “Crookes tubes”.

On November 8, 1895, Roentgen learned the fluorescence was produced by invisible rays originating from the Crookes tube he was using to examine cathode rays (later known as electrons), which punched the dark black paper wrapped around the tube. The earliest photographic plate from his experiments was a shot of his wife Bertha’s hand where her wedding ring clearly visible. After Roentgen plunged into seven weeks of meticulous planned and executed experiments to verify his observations and enhance his scientific data, on December 28, he presented his “temporary” communication, “On a New Kind of Rays,” in the Proceedings of the Würzburg Physico-Medical Society. The world and the medical society recognized very quickly the importance of Roentgen’s discovery. Only two months later the x-rays were finding their first clinical use in the US. 

His discovery allowed Roentgen was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1901. When questioned what his feelings were at the moment of discovery and experiments, he simply replied: “I didn’t think, I investigated.” We would like to remember that Roentgen never sought honours or financial profits indeed he never took out any patents on X-rays, to guarantee that the world could freely serve from his work. 

Let’s confirm that 8th November is the perfect time to celebrate radiologists and a great scientist by sharing the stunning medical, scientific and artistic possibilities of medical imaging and highlighting the essential role radiologists play.